Dragonsight - A Pern Fan Fiction Story
by Dragonsight Elli
Summary: The current Pass would soon be ending, bringing an intense feeling of relief to all the people of Pern. But what would happen to the dragons and their riders once they were no longer needed to protect Pern from the ravages of that space-borne parasite, Thread? What did their future hold? Was there anyone who could help them find their way? Here's one possible future!
1. Prologue

_(inspired by Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series)_

\- Legal notice -

The World of Pern is copyrighted to Anne McCaffrey (c) 1967.

'The Dragonriders of Pern' (R) is a registered trademark.

Prologue 

As Jaxom, Lord of Ruatha Hold and rider of the white dragon, Ruth, prepared for the long journey ahead, he glanced at Master Robinton with an "Are you sure you want to do this?" look. Robinton nodded fiercely as he climbed aboard Ruth.

"It'll be a long jump," Jaxom explained. "I don't think we have a space suit that will fit you, and definitely not for Fandarel."

"Leave this one to the Dragonriders, Robinton," F'lar, Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, responded. "We'll take care of it."

Sixteen dragons lifted off toward the sky and winked _between_. The jump was much longer than any of them anticipated. Even Jaxom's jump that took him back 1800 turns to blow up the Red Star didn't seem that long.

When they finally came out of _between_, they saw a building below them. As they circled down to land, they soon realized that the building was a two-story house, and they were circling an extensive backyard. In the window of the patio door, they saw a young woman sitting in a chair, her finger poised over a large book she held in her lap.

_Yes, Jaxom_, Ruth said. _She's the one I want. She'll teach us more about Earth customs and input even more information into the AIVAS files_.

_How far did you go back?_ Jaxom mentally asked his dragon.

_I have taken you back 4000 Turns_, the little white dragon responded, earning a startled gasp from his rider. _It is the year 2019. I came for her because our ancestors wanted a more primitive society than what they had, but they still wanted their technology. That's what the Masterharper said anyway. He didn't want to ruin Pern's beauty._

"She won't have a space suit!" Jaxom vehemently protested, angry with his dragon for the first time in his life. "A jump like that will kill her!"

_We have extra space suits in the sacks we brought along, _Ruth reported. _N'ton was assiduous in packing them for her and whoever else she may want to bring._

"Are you sure she's the one you want, Ruth?" Jaxom asked his dragon again, his anger abating.

_Yes_, Ruth assured his rider; his eyes whirling the blue and green of contentment.


	2. Chapter One - Visitors At The Door

_**Chapter 1 – Visitors at The Door**_

"Linda, come look! There have to be about 18 UFOs in our backyard!"

"Oh, shut up, Dad, you're hallucinating again," I mumbled, trying to concentrate on my book.

"They're landing, Linda! Come see!"

I personally don't believe in UFOs at all, and if there really are any, they could be easily explained when they landed. Military planes or weird-shaped birds. Dad had had two strokes, so he had phantom vision, which sometimes turned into hallucinations. He also was obsessed with UFOs, so it was logical that he would hallucinate them.

I closed my book with a snap. With him carrying on like this, I'd never be able to concentrate. I rose to go back downstairs to my basement where his yelling could be covered up by the sound of my tapes, but a voice in my head told me to sit back down.

_She's the one we need._

The voice was soft but insistent. I had no clue where it was coming from, but it compelled me to stay where I was.

"Thomas, you know as well as I do there are no UFOs," Mom said, annoyed that he'd called her away from playing with the kids.

However, the kids came running into the living room and ran out the back door. Dad started to count, and Mom, looking out the door window to see where the grandkids got to, let out a loud gasp.

"What's wrong, Mom?" I demanded.

Mom never gasped like that unless she was seeing something creepy… like a mouse in the fireplace. Mice and snakes were her worst fears.

The doorbell rang at that precise moment. Dad had rushed outside without his walker to see the fantastic dragon-like UFOs, and Mom was standing stock still, so it was up to me to answer the door. I didn't want to. I assumed it was two-year-old Elsie trying to get in, and I knew she'd want to go out again as soon as I let her in.

_Answer the door,_ said the soft insistent voice in my head.

"Alright, alright," I groaned as the doorbell rang for a second time.

Maybe someone was trying to deliver a package. I rose from my seat and went to the front door to answer it.

"Hello?" I said tentatively as I pulled the door open.

Strangely garbed individuals were arranged in front of me. They certainly didn't look like they were from around here.

"My name is Jaxom," the lead stranger introduced himself, offering me his hand. "Lord of Ruatha Hold, and I ride the white dragon, Ruth. These are the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen of Pern." Turning to his companions, the stranger began the introductions. "F'lar and Lessa of Benden, N'ton and Margatta of Fort, M'rand and Pilgra of the High Reaches, G'narish and Nadira of Igen, G'dened and Cosira of Ista, R'mart and Bedella of Telgar Weyr, K'van and Adria of Southern, and T'gellan and Mirrim of Eastern. We come on Search. Oh yes, I forgot F'nor of Benden, F'lar's half-brother. We come on Search."

"What do you mean on Search?" I asked suspiciously, shaking Jaxom's outstretched hand, nonetheless.

"We're trying to upgrade our planet to a more technological society, but we need help," Jaxom explained, facing me once more. "We don't want to have too much technology like our ancestors who came before us, but we need more effective ways to communicate with each other, and we need to upgrade our electricity. AIVAS says we should ask for help here in this time and place because his files can only show us diagrams of how things are done."

My reaction was instantaneous as it was without thought. "Google it."

"What?" asked Jaxom, appearing more than a little confused.

"Don't you have the internet?" I wondered aloud. "You could upload all of this AIVAS' files to the internet so everyone can access them. You could also have emails and social media so that everyone can communicate with each other."

And, then, a small fragment of what this Jaxom had said finally got through my fuddled mind. "Wait… hold on a sec! Back up! Your planet?! Just where are you from?"

"Pern," Jaxom replied, smiling broadly. "It's the third planet from the star Rukbat in the Sagittarian sector."

Realizing that I was talking to someone out front, Dad made his laborious way to the front door; now with his walker in use.

"What's that contraption?" Jaxom asked in the middle of his speech.

"Oh, my dad uses a walker," I explained, "because he desperately needs knee replacements and can't get them until October when the risk of having a stroke goes down tremendously." Glancing towards the back door, I added, "He was out in the back yard. Said he saw UFOs there. He has a hard time getting around. He really ought to have stayed there."

"What's a UFO?" F'nor, I think his name was, asked.

"Unidentified flying objects," I continued. "He's hallucinating. I don't even believe what I'm saying."

"He's seeing our dragons outside," Jaxom explained, grinning broadly. "What you call the backyard is the only safe place for them to land out here."

"Wait… what?!" I stammered, hardly believing. "Your dragons can travel off-planet?"

"It was actually AIVAS' idea that we try to make the jump _between_ to Earth," Jaxom explained, glancing about, "but Ruth had the idea to time it so we would find ourselves in a society more advanced than ours but not as advanced as our ancestors. We jumped 4000 turns back in time to find you. Ruth's absolutely sure that you're the one he wants."

"I think I'm hearing your Ruth in my head." I said slowly. "He keeps saying, 'She's the one I want.'"

"Do you hear any other voices in your head?" the small dark-haired woman, Lessa I think was her name, asked.

I concentrated for a moment, and then I distinctly heard someone else in my head saying that they itched something fierce on their hind leg. It wasn't Ruth's voice. This one was deeper, richer, more authoritative than Ruth.

"Someone just said his hind leg itched." I sputtered in surprise. "I must be imagining things."

"No, that was Mnementh. Thank the First Egg I brought a pot of oil with me," the one named F'lar replied.

I had not heard him speak before, so I didn't know who he was until he hastily introduced himself before hurrying off to go tend to his dragon.

"Dragons itch all the time," Jaxom assured me, grinning ruefully.

I was soon shaking hands with all the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen, still shocked and disbelieving. Dad finally made his way into the room and introduced himself. Then, all the questions about the planet were asked and answered.

"Your ancestors created these dragons from smaller beings?" Dad asked in wonder. "If they could do that, why aren't you creating creatures all over the place?"

"We lost so much knowledge and technology," Lessa sighed, genuinely contrite.

She was a small woman, even smaller than Mom, with long dark hair which she had braided, and light gray eyes. I had to ask Jaxom what she looked like later because I can't see.

Someone came in through the back door. It was F'lar, having just relieved Mnementh's itchy leg.

"Why did you come back in time in search of a family?" asked Dad. "You could've just gone to the Earth of your time and got all the instruction you needed."

"That was our plan at the outset," Jaxom said ruefully, "but Ruth had other ideas."

"Why are you all wearing those weird clothes and helmets with those weird looking tanks on your backs?" asked my daughter, Raeana.

She has mild intellectual disabilities but she's very observant.

"Those are our space suits we borrowed from the Yokohama after diverting the orbit of the Red Star," Jaxom replied, smiling kindly. "The jump _between_ was so long that we would have died if we didn't have our oxygen tanks."

"Will we have those tank thingies when we go into outer space?" Raeana gleefully asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Who says we're going into outer space?" I demanded. "They can get all the technology they need from us and then go on their merry way without taking us along. I can't go anywhere without my electronics."

"We do have hydroelectric power now from a water wheel," one of the women said.

She hadn't spoken previously so I didn't know who she was.

"How quaint," I muttered, shaking my head. "I don't know how it works, but I believe we get our electricity from coal. Have you any outlets to plug in our electronics? Have you any batteries we can use to supply the electronics we can't plug in?"

"What's an outlet?" F'lar wondered, not familiar with the term. "What do you mean plug it in? We have electric lights and acid tanks, but we don't have any of the things you're talking about. And what is a phone?"

I returned to my chair by the fireplace, found my phone, and brought it to F'lar.

"We really should've brought Fandarel along," said another man standing by F'lar. "He would've known what to do with these parts."

"Phones can access the internet," I explained, flicking from one screen to the next, "send quick text messages back and forth, and you can talk to people on the phone. That's its original function. Phones are like miniature computers, but I can't work mine without my Bluetooth keyboard. Using the touchscreen is really hard for a blind person."

I opened my fanny pack and brought out my collapsible keyboard. I opened it, pressed a few keys, and set my phone talking.

"Does every phone talk?" asked the last man who had spoken.

"Each iPhone has the app installed on it, but not everyone uses it," I explained. "Only people who can't see their phones use it. If I can get a new phone on Pern, I want it to be able to talk so I can use it for more than just calling people. For example, if I want to text Jaxom, I just go into my messages app, click on his name, then just write out what I want to say. You can do that with emails too, but emails are more formal and longer than text messages. I should be the one to talk. I basically write War and Peace when I write text messages."

"That's for sure," Mom chuckled, talking for the first time. "She texts me at five in the morning somedays and it wakes me up."

"We'll bring this phone along with any other phones or computers you might have in the house," Jaxom said. "We'd like to stay for a sevenday or so in order to get acclimated to this society and decide if this is really what we want for Pern. Is that all right?"

"We don't have anywhere for you to sleep." Mom said. "We already have eight people living in this house. We're overstretched. Elli already sleeps in the basement…"

"And Raeana can sleep with me while somebody sleeps in her bed," I chimed in, strangely excited by our visitors. "Then little Caleb can sleep with Tina, Big Caleb, and Elsie like he used to, while somebody else takes his bed. Then I guess the rest will have to camp out in our living rooms. We only have two sleeping bags, but I'm sure we have spare blankets and sheets and pillows they can use. If not, we'll just head over to Walmart and buy some. I'll put it on my account, Mom, so you don't have to worry about finances."

Mom sighed. I hadn't been this bossy since my 20s. Back then, I bossed my brothers and sister around like a dictator. But now, something was compelling me in this new direction, and I somehow knew it was the right thing to do.

"The only problem is feeding our dragons," F'lar informed me. "They only eat once a week, but they'll need to be fed at least once during our stay here."

"Oh no!" Mom gasped in total dismay. "What do they eat?"

"Runnerbeasts, herdbeasts, and wherries," Jaxom replied.

"What are runnerbeasts, herdbeasts, and wherries?" I asked, having never heard those words before.

"Wherries are a squat type of bird that's really good eating," Lessa explained as she picked up the narrative. "Runnerbeasts are what non dragonriders ride, and herdbeasts are generally slaughtered for food."

"We don't have any of that here," I moaned, beginning to panic. "We have turkeys, chickens, horses, and cows. We don't have your runnerbeasts, herdbeasts, and wherries. Plus, if your dragons suddenly start hunting in somebody's pasture, they're going to panic and try to kill them. We can't have that. I haven't even seen them yet, but I already love them."

"Would they eat scraps?" Dad wondered aloud.

"They like to hunt," said another man whose voice I didn't recognize.

"They only eat scraps when they're first hatched," Jaxom added.

"Are any of them hungry now?" Mom asked. Then, gulping slightly, she added, "Do they eat humans?"

"No… and No," I disdainfully responded. "They've all just eaten before making the jump _between_ to come here, and they most certainly do not eat humans!"

Astonished, Jaxom demanded, "How did you know that?"

"They told me," I replied, very matter-of-factly, "and I can sense their full bellies. I don't know how I know all this, but it's sort of second nature to me. I hear their voices in my head, and I can sense how they're feeling."

"How old are you?" F'lar asked.

I'm not your normal adult who takes offense at that question and lies about their age.

"I'm 36," I said ruefully, "but I sure don't act like it."

"You'd be too old to Impress then," F'lar sighed, his voice full of regret. "You have a very rare ability that only two other people on Pern possess. Only Lessa and Brekke can communicate with other dragons. If you'd only been six years younger, you would've been an excellent candidate for a queen egg."

"I'm not responsible enough for a dragon, anyway," I demurred. "I can't even take care of my own kid let alone a dragon."

"Impression changes you," Jaxom assured me. "You'd become a completely different person… a better person than you already are."

"I like myself the way I am," I argued with some ranker. "I am willing to come and improve your world, but I need my electronics, my family, and my best friend forever Tiffany Weber. She's my whole reason for living at this point, but she has stage four metastatic breast cancer, and I don't know if she'll be able to make the long jump _between_. I'll definitely ask her, though. I love her so much! She's my pseudo twin sister!"

I grabbed my phone from F'lar and texted the news to Tiffany. I told her to bring her grandma, her parents, her brother, and his girlfriend.

"Where does this Tiffany live?" another of our visitors wondered.

"St. Louis," I responded, setting my phone aside.

"We'd have to fly straight to St. Louis to get her," another of our visitors remarked, "because we've never been there before."

"I've driven through it, but I've never visited her in St. Louis," I sighed, shaking my head. "That's where she is now, but I don't have a clue as to how we're getting there. It's an 11-hour drive from here."

"You'd have to wait for her response anyway," Mom remarked. "She probably won't go."

"Then I won't go, either," I firmly declared, "plain and simple."

"Elli, you have the opportunity of a lifetime to go somewhere new and educate people, and you're going to lose it if you don't go!" Dad yelled at me. "Look at all the opportunities you've missed in your lifetime! Are you going to let this one slide too?"

"I'll do anything for Tiffany," I argued. "I want her to die in my arms so that I can say my last goodbye to her. I want to be there through all her pain! If these people can go through the AIVAS files and find a treatment that will cure her, I'll jump at the chance to see her getting better."

_She comes_, Ruth informed me in my head. _I am there. I am collecting her and her grandma._

None of us had even noticed Ruth's absence. How had he known where to go? I hadn't even seen Tiffany's house. I had the address in my phone, but I didn't have it memorized! Seconds later, the little white dragon appeared, settling to a gentle landing before discharging his passengers.

"Ruth's the only dragon that does that," Jaxom chuckled, slapping his lifemate affectionately on the neck. "He takes the initiative a lot, which is not usually a draconic trait."

"Just like Ruth to do whatever he wants," said someone whose voice I didn't recognize.

"So right, N'ton," said F'lar, and I could hear the grin in his voice.

I walked to the patio door, opened it, and beheld my best friend.

"Where am I at?" Tiffany asked in a quavering voice. "I was taking care of Tony dog, then this creature nuzzled me and talked in my head. Then he put me on his back and flew off with me and Oma. Then I was so cold I thought I'd freeze to death, and I couldn't feel anything for about eight seconds. Then I ended up here."

"You're here, Twin," I said happily, then put my arms around her. "Come with us to Pern. There might be better treatments there for you with this AIVAS gadget. He left them files of what they can do medically, but they came here to try and advance their technology a little more than what they have. They're a backward society. They had so much technology when they first landed on Pern, but they lost it all due to the Threadfall and having to move north because of the volcanic activity. At least, that's what Jaxom told me. I'll do anything for you to get better. If you don't want to go, I can't make you, but that means that I'm staying, and Dad doesn't want me to stay."

"My brother and Dad are in IT," Tiffany remarked. "They can definitely help improve technology. I want to bring Tony, but I don't know how he'll take to riding on a dragon. Do they have guide dog schools there?"

With some sadness in my voice, I replied, "No. In fact, they usually shun people with disabilities. If I go, I want to educate the people of Pern about disabilities, and then they can integrate into society. I want to enhance their technology so that we blind people can use it, too. We'll go to Illinois for your parents and brother and his girlfriend, and then we'll all come back here and start educating them. They need to be integrated into a technologically advanced society so that they can renew contact with the Earth of their time and let them know that Pern did indeed survive. I have a feeling that their Federated Sentient Planets thought that Pern was a tragic disaster. With the Red Star diverted and only one pass left on Pern, it can be tenable again. And the people from Earth, it'll be 15 years before any new faces would come to Pern, but it'd be worth it, wouldn't it?"

Tiffany hugged me and said she would go with me to Pern and help educate the people about disabilities.

"We can help upgrade their technology, and we can ride dragons!"


	3. Chapter Two - The Grand Adventure

_**Chapter 2 – The Grand Adventure**_

One month later, everything was prepared for us to go to Pern. Jaxom had to return to Pern for his wife who was a healer, and the Mastersmith Fandarel, Masterharper Menolly, and Master Machinesmith Benelek. He also enlisted the help of F'lessan, rider of bronze Golanth and son of F'lar and Lessa. So, by the time we were all ready to depart, we had 20 dragons living in our backyard. Each dragon was limited to three wild turkeys apiece whenever they fed, so that no animals were missed. I didn't know how many people goggled at the UFOs flying after the turkeys. They couldn't all feed at the same time, so they took it in shifts.

"Turkeys were a lot like wherries," Jaxom told me, so I wasn't concerned.

Raeana kept asking me when she was going to ride a dragon.

"When we leave for our new home, sweetheart," I assured her. "Everyone's going to have their own dragon to ride so they can bring their belongings."

"Bring those cell phone and tablet gadgets with you," Fandarel instructed. "If we can get them to work on Pern, we can definitely replicate them and give them to our citizens. They'd be much better than those hand units we're working on. Of course, the runner craft would quickly become obsolete, but we can find other uses for them".

"Sports!" I cried. "You could form a crafthall specifically for games to be played. Situate several in every major holding on the Northern and Southern Continents, though I don't know how you'd be able to play hockey in the South. You use ice skates."

"But people could come from the south to play in the north," Jaxom suggested.

"And you should invent a special sport for your dragons," I pressed on, excited by the possibility, "so that they'll have something to do when this Pass ends. And runners could run marathons and participate in other long-distance track-and-field sports. They could compete in the Olympics if you decide to hold those every four years."

Holding up my iPhone, I added, "This is a much more efficient form of communication than sending runners all over the place where they can mess up the message in the running route."

"I agree," Fandarel replied, nodding appreciatively, "but the runners will probably not agree with you there. There'll be plenty of people out of jobs!"

"I'm going to miss my favorite foods," I muttered as we were loading up the dragons. "I'm going to miss coffee, chocolate, and most of all, potatoes! They're my all-time favorites!"

"If potatoes are those tubers you're always eating," Jaxom responded with a grin, "we have those on Pern. We also have those yams on Pern, but I don't like those."

"Aw, come on! What planet do you live on?" I cried, then blushed in the next breath. "You live on Pern, and that's where I'm going. Can Dad and Tiffany safely go _between_?"

"Tom will need knee surgery, but he can go _between_ before he gets it," Sharra assured me, "and Tiffany's not so bad off that she can't go _between_, either. Could that possibly kill some of that cancer?"

"We have to go soon," Lessa said imperiously. "Ramoth is becoming more egg heavy day by day, and she won't be able to go _between_ again until she clutches and the eggs hatch."

"Will she be clutching at the same time Lamanth clutches?" asked F'lar? "They rose to mate pretty close to each other."

"You know, that might be a distinct possibility," Lessa replied. "I don't think that's ever happened before."

"According to the old moldy records AIVAS deciphered," F'lar recalled, "there was an instance where several queens mated days apart in the same weyr to make up for all the dragons they'd lost to a horrible plague. As long as they don't mate at the same time..."

A look of pain passed over F'lar's face as he was briefly reminded of a poignant tragedy in their past.

"What happens if two dragons rise to mate at the same time?" I asked, rather tactlessly I realized later but did not know it at the time.

"Two greens can rise to mate at the same time without anything bad happening to them," Lessa said in a rush. "So can one queen and one green, because the blues and browns fly greens and the bronzes fly queens. But if two queens rise to mate simultaneously, they will fight to the death over the bronzes. That happened with Brekke and Kylara. Kylara lost her mind, but Brekke just lost her dragon. If you lose your dragon, you lose half yourself. You're never the same. Some ex-dragonriders suicide or just die."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, the pain I felt piercing my heart like a spear.

"That's why when one queen rises, all the others have to get far away from the weyr," Lessa sighed, her voice betraying her own pain. "They will rise to mate even if they're not in season yet."

I wanted to hug Lessa, but something told me she wasn't that much of a hugger. So, I reached for Tiffany, instead, hugging her tightly.

"So," I sighed, trying to get us back on track, "who's going to take whom?"

It didn't take long to get the seating assignments sorted. Somehow, I knew I would be going on Ruth, along with my disassembled electric piano. We all dressed in space suits for the first time ever and boarded our mounts.

"We're going back _between_ times so that we will not have been gone a whole month," Jaxom informed me. "We will arrive on the day after we diverted the Red Star."

The liftoff was the most thrilling experience of my life—better even than the most thrilling amusement park ride I've ever been on. We had taken our visitors to the Wisconsin Valley Fair, which we would never have done on any other occasion, but Fandarel wanted to know what the rides looked like.

Suddenly, a piercing cold gripped me… one that reached right down to my bones. I couldn't feel anything… not Jaxom's waist which I clutched for dear life… nor Ruth's back underneath me.

_I am here_, Ruth said reassuringly. _This is a very long jump. I'm taking you to Landing. The Masterharper will be there._

As suddenly as the sensation had hit, it lifted… sight, sound, and feeling returning as we spiraled down to land. The first thing I noticed was the quality of the sounds around us. Muted, open, plenty of odd sounds but no echoes.

Jaxom dismounted, then helped me out of my riding harness before gently easing me down Ruth's side. Then, the Ruathan Lord turned and entered the AIVAS building. Grabbing my cane from its strapped down location on Ruth's back, I did my best to hurry after Jaxom. He led us through the building. Suddenly, he gasped, stopping in one of the hallway's doors.

"Somebody get Master Oldive!" he cried out; his voice filled with anguish. "I think Master Robinton's dead!"

There was no mistaking that. Master Robinton had died sometime during the night, and AIVAS had inexplicably shut down. To the citizens of Pern, there didn't appear to be any way to upload all our information into AIVAS' files!

"You should be able to add the information into the computers that were hooked to AIVAS," I suggested, somehow feeling the grief the others were experiencing. "It still might function that way."

"Yes, Elli's right," said Tiffany's brother, Gregg. "I work in IT. I can help you with the machines."

"But Master Robinton!" Lessa wailed, clearly distraught as she crumpled into F'lar's arms. "No one can get him back!"

"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet him," I whispered, feeling so sorry for the people around me.

Tiffany was also crying in sympathy. I took her in my arms and held her, but I couldn't do anything for the dragonriders and craftmasters. All I could do was offer what comfort I could as they wept. A few days later, I was there as the invincible Masterharper Robinton was buried at sea.


	4. Chapter Three - The Golden Twins

_**Chapter 3 – The Golden Twins**_

When it came to computers, the plan went into action immediately. Gregg and Gary, Tiffany's brother and father respectively, showed Benelek how to create an internet for Pern and taught him how to manufacture computer parts when the stash found in the Katherine Caves was exhausted.

"We need computers and cell phone in every room of every major and minor hold, cot, crafthall, and weyr," I said. "That way, people from all over can use them for networking and word processing. You can use your cell phone the way you'd use a computer except for word processing. But you can't text on a computer, so your phone comes in handy."

Replicating cell phones and building towers would take much longer. You couldn't dismantle an iPhone, so they had a hard time figuring out how to assemble one, but Benelek finally figured it out. Then Gregg, who had previously worked for Apple, recreated all the apps we would need; including Voiceover for blind users. Then we had to figure out how Bluetooth worked so we could create headsets and keyboards. Fandarel was immensely interested in my speakers.

"But they wouldn't really work in a hold or weyr if your bedroom was near someone else's," I reminded him.

Meanwhile, Ramoth had clutched on the same day Lamanth did, so for the first time in 2000 Turns, there was a double clutch on the Hatching Ground, and both queens had lain a golden egg.

"Probably the last queen Ramoth will lay," Lessa sighed, reflectively. "I thought Amaranth was the last one, but she surprised me yet again." Smiling proudly as she slapped Ramoth affectionately on the back, she added, "I'm so proud of you, my golden love."

"When will the eggs hatch?" I asked excitedly. "Will I get to see them hatch?"

"You will be invited to the Hatching Ground, as you're all living in Benden Weyr," Lessa replied, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You are welcome to move to the Harper Hall where you can instruct the students more easily, but we just haven't moved you yet. I can't do a thing right now with Ramoth slobbering over her latest clutch. We'll move you after the hatching. Unless you'd like to live in Landing in the Southern Continent."

"As much as I love warm weather," I said to her, "I'm actually intrigued by these caves you've made homes. I've always loved caves. I love the echoes."

I didn't mention that I loved to hear the dragons communicating with each other. I decided to keep that ability to myself for the time being. The only other people who knew were Jaxom, because Ruth was the first dragon I had heard… and Tiffany, who shared my ability.

Finally, the day of the Hatching arrived. I was dressing in my quarters at Benden Weyr when the thrumming started. I still had trouble fastening my tunic, so Manora, who had come in to guide me to the Hatching Ground, helped me fasten it for the umpteenth time and hurried me out of the room.

"I need my cane!" I protested vainly as we practically ran to the Hatching ground.

I was thankful for the new boots I had received upon my arrival at Benden, because the moment we set foot in the Hatching Ground I felt the hot sands through the soles of my feet. Manora put me and my family in the very front tier. My mom was on my left side, Tiffany on my right. None of us were candidates.

There were 60 eggs on the grounds. I remembered Lessa fretting there might not be a sufficient number of candidates. There weren't. The first dragonet to emerge from its sac was a blue from Ramoth's group. It mewled piteously as it looked around for a candidate. However, it couldn't seem to find what it was looking for on the ground. It turned toward the tiers of seats, looking earnestly toward the front row where Big Caleb was sitting.

"I wanted to be a smithcrafter," he protested. "He can't want me. I'm too old!"

"Take him," F'lar cried. "If you don't accept the Impression, he'll go _between_."

Mom was so shocked by what was going on that she forgot to describe what was happening on the ground. Mom was notoriously bad at that.

"He says his name is Duluth!" Caleb cried, clutching the wobbly baby dragon's head in his hands.

Caleb stepped off the tier to lead his dragon away, but F'lar stopped him.

"Courtesy dictates that you wait until all the dragonets have Hatched," the Weyrleader quietly spoke, but I heard him, nonetheless.

There were dragons accepting candidates on the ground, but the next anomaly occurred when a little green female rejected all the remaining candidates and started for the tiers. Afraid she'd get hurt because of how clumsy she appeared, Tina jumped down to assist her. She tried to turn the little green back to the other candidates, but the hatchling had already raised adoring eyes to my sister, and Impression was made.

"She says her name is Quath," Tina cried joyously.

As if on cue, both little queen eggs started rocking erratically at the same time, almost as though they were twins. When they both burst out of their shells at precisely the same moment, everyone in the grounds fell silent. All ten girls gathered around the latest hatchlings, but the little queens showed no interest in any of them. As one, they turned toward the seats and made their ungainly way toward them.

Veronika, Tiffany's mom, was sitting on the other side of her, so I listened for her descriptions as my own mother was too awed to give me a blow-by-blow account of what was going on. Unexpectedly, something nudged my knee. I ignored it at first until the nudging became more insistent.

"What is this?" I asked, as I was skittish of all Pernese animals and thought one might have sneaked into the Hatching ground.

"Elli!" Mom whispered, her barely contained excitement unmistakable. "It's one of the little queens!"

Mom had never sounded so excited in her life. She's a phlegmatic soul. Nothing phases that woman.

Gingerly, I reached out and touched the gold hatchling's head.

"Now, look here!" I said, severely. "I'm 36 years old. I'm too old for you. I could never visualize where we're supposed to go. I'm totally blind, I can't ride. Dragon! Go find someone else!"

There were gasps of shock all over the grounds. No one had ever rejected an Impression before. The little queen began to keen — such a gut-wrenching sound that I felt my heart melting. A reckless daring swept over me. Why couldn't a totally blind person ride a dragon? Perhaps someone else could give her the visual she needed to teleport wherever she needed to go.

"Alright, Chlorith,"" I relented, reaching for her wing as she was about to take flight.

My will alone brought her back down to the ground where I put my trembling arms around her.

"I'm not the most responsible person in the world," I told my new dragon. "I couldn't even take care of my own daughter, for Pete's sake. I have difficulty transitioning from one activity to another if I haven't finished the first. I hate working. But if you chose me, there must be a reason for it."

As I stroked her eye ridges, I was aware of another presence right next to me. It tried to nudge Chlorith out of the way, so I picked her up with an enormous effort and placed her on my lap. The little creature who had nudged Chlorith made its ungainly way up the steps toward the seats.

"Tiffany, catch her!" I called out, trying in the same effort to hold onto Chlorith. "She's looking for you!"

I didn't know if that were true, but if I got a queen, then I wanted Tiffany to share the same experiences, even though she did have cancer. I didn't know how long her queen would live, but perhaps having a dragon might help her cure her cancer.

"Rollith, I'm sick," I heard Tiffany say. "I have cancer. If I die, you'll die a young queen."

_But I still want you_, I heard the little queen say in my head.

Her voice sounded as though Tiffany were speaking to me from the other side of a long tunnel. Veronika burst into tears. Her daughter had Impressed a dragon, even though she had stage four metastatic breast cancer and might not beat it. We still weren't sure Pernese healing covered her disease, but I had an idea.

"Do you think Agenothree could cure cancer like a chemo drug?" I idly asked Chlorith. "Ask Brekke if Agenothree can be used to cure cancer."

I knew Brekke could speak to any dragon, and I also knew she wasn't in the Hatching grounds, because watching Impressions would torment her so with memories of her lost queen, Wirenth.


	5. Chapter Four - Fatal Betrayal

_**Chapter 4 – Fatal Betrayal**_

Danala did not have long to wait to put her plan into action. Karenth had hatched two Turns ago, about the same time my Chlorith had, and Danala knew a queen could go into heat at two turns old if her rider didn't take her away during another queen's mating flight. Today was the day. She would fight to the death for her chance to be senior Weyrwoman and emerge victorious.

Igen needed a strong, willful woman to be senior Weyrwoman, not a passive, docile thing like Nadira. As soon as Danala saw the bronzes blooding their kills, she took Karenth out to where Nadira's queen, Bailith, was blooding hers. The effect was instantaneous. Karenth bellowed loudly as she sucked the blood from her first buck. Danala knew she wanted raw meat, but this flight was much too important for her to gorge herself. After the third buck, Danala saw that Bailith was rising into the air, and she commanded Karenth to follow.

Nadira was in the throes of the link with her dragon, so she didn't notice another person entering the room, her face purposeful, her belt knife unsheathed in her hand. Danala waited for her queen to obey her command. Karenth accosted her nemesis from behind and grabbed her head with her teeth, whirling her around to face her. Then, she clamped her jaws on the jugular vein and began to suck the blood clean out of the vein. She could feel the pulse of that vein as she literally drained the life force out of the older queen, her mother. As Karenth sucked, Danala swept her hand up and out, plunging her belt knife into Nadira's throat. The older Weyrwoman, eyes protruding, fell to the floor, dead.

"Let go now!" Danala cried, exultantly. "LET GO NOW and fly!"

By the time help got to Igen, it was too late. The queen riders stood around, shaking their heads.

"This was deliberate," Lessa growled, her anger plain. "I've never seen a dragonrider act that way before. I always thought the dragon had control of the rider during a mating flight, but Danala seemed as though she had complete control."

"She did," I muttered bitterly. "Chlorith says Karenth did not want to kill Bailith. She says she wasn't ready to mate, but she was mature enough to avoid them. Karenth is not happy. She's displeased with her rider."

"I just can't believe this happened," Lessa hissed.

"G'narish is going to need some TLC," I said and strode purposefully toward his weyr, trying to be as quiet with my cane as possible.

I tapped at the door, but no one answered. I knocked again, but I heard a low, delighted laugh as Guyamath caught Karenth in the air. I burst in, as the flight part of it was over and I didn't think. Caught in the throes of the mating flight, no one would blame G'narish for having sex with Danala. However, my precipitous decision to act and my intrusion had broken their links with their dragons. G'narish pushed Danala roughly aside, his face suffused with rage and grief.

"You killed my weyrmate!" G'narish whispered in a hoarse voice. "You killed her all for your own selfish gains. You are no longer welcome in my weyr, in ANY Weyr! You will be exiled! You will be shunned!"

Stunned by this reversal of what she had expected, Danala glanced nervously about, gathered up her clothes, and fled!

Not knowing what else to do, I went forward tentatively and put my arms around G'narish.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered softly. "You know she'll always be alive as long as you remember her."

His head nodded against my chest.

"I will come to Igen," I spoke softly to him, "as Bailith and Karenth were the only queens there. I can continue the Weyr for you as long as Chlorith is able to mate. You know she dances? She started it during our first Threadfall when I couldn't see where to aim my flamethrower. She danced to accommodate my erratic use of the flamethrower. Lessa was furious at first when she saw what Chlorith was doing, but all the queens caught onto it because they realized that their riders could aim their flamethrowers better, so Lessa gave in. She even ordered that this dancing become standard practice in all the Queens' wings. I'm babbling I know, but I'm trying to keep your mind off what just happened. It was horrible!"

But G'narish's body still shook with silent sobs, so I held him tightly, rocking him back and forth, and shushing him gently, and murmuring reassurances that this wasn't his fault… that no one had known what Danala was planning except her queen, and a dragon never goes against his or her rider. Sometimes I'd love if Chlorith did, just so that I knew she had an opinion in life that was different from mine. I mean, we can agree to disagree on things, but a dragon is a sentient being with thoughts and feelings, and they shouldn't always have to echo those of their riders!

"That's how they were programmed," Lessa explained as she quietly entered. "They don't always take the initiative or voice opinions that differ from their riders. It does sometimes make me wonder if they do have different opinions."

"Karenth showed hers in her reluctance today to do Danala's bidding," I felt obliged to argue. "Chlorith says she is mentally crying because she killed another dragon. Dragons can't weep physically, but they can keen, and they can make it sound like they're crying in their telepathic voices. Chlorith started crying when I tried to reject her, which is why I changed my mind. That keen was so heartfelt that I was afraid she'd kill herself. I didn't want Ramoth's last queen to die, so I Impressed her against my better judgement."

"And look how it's changed you," Lessa quietly said to me. "Go to Igen with my blessing. The Egg knows I have five queens in Benden already. I don't need any more."

"If she's staying at Igen, I'm staying too!" declared Tiffany from the other side of the room. "I came here for her, and I will not be separated from her again!"

"Whichever queen rises first will be the senior queen," I said. "Is that fair, G'narish?"

"Yes, it is the traditional way," he muttered, pulling back to look at me, "but I don't know if I should remain Weyrleader after this."

"Of course, you should!" all the queen riders chorused in unison.

"You're one of the best Weyrleaders on Pern," I argued, trying to convince him. "You have the experience needed, and you've gotten your Weyr through many a Threadfall, both in the past and in the present. We need you, G'narish! Just because you didn't prevent this tragedy doesn't mean you're not a good Weyrleader. Even Weyrleaders make mistakes! I remember when I first Impressed Chlorith. I wanted to be the perfect dragonrider. I was so certain that I was not allowed to make a mistake. But then I saw Lessa give Ramoth the wrong coordinates once, and I was the one to correct her. I thought she'd be furious with me, but she was actually amazed that I knew where she was supposed to go because I couldn't see where she was trying to go."

"What are we going to do about that Danala woman?" Lessa snapped, anger blazing in her gray eyes.

"She shall be exiled to one of the eastern ring islands," G'narish replied, his expression grim. "She shall be shunned with no bronzes for her queen to fly, no clutches to be Hatched. She will be forbidden to enter any of the weyrs of Pern!"


	6. Chapter Five - The Frustrating Dilemma

_**Chapter 5 – The Frustrating Dilemma**_

Having heard G'narish' pronouncement about Danala's fate, I had thought that was the end of it… until the Igen Weyrleader let out a guttural moan before sagging back into a chair.

"What's wrong?" I wondered, a little fearful.

"We can't exile Danala," G'narish groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Karenth hasn't clutched yet. We can't sanction a whole lot of dragonets suiciding because they can't Impress, and we can't exile other people with Danala because they did nothing wrong. Nor can I really exile Karenth. She was being controlled by her rider. I don't know what to do with her, but we have to do something."

"Do we have a prison cell at Igen Weyr?" I asked.

"No," muttered G'narish, slumping even farther down in his chair. "Jails were outlawed in the Charter."

"But whoever wrote the Charter didn't reckon on a Dragonrider becoming a murderer," I argued. "The Charter's older than the first Dragons. If her dragon were any other color she could easily be exiled, but her dragon helps keep Pern alive. We can't separate the two, either. Could you live without your dragon and have him still be alive?"

G'narish shook his head, then remembered I couldn't see the motion, so he mumbled "No", in the softest voice I'd ever heard him use.

"When Mardra and Merika were exiled," I went on, "they had bronzes with them. If we exile Danala, she wouldn't have any bronzes, but there's no guarantee she won't trick a few bronze riders into joining her, is there?"

Heaving a heavy sigh, G'narish reached over and squeezed my hand.

"You'll make a fine Weyrwoman someday, Elli," he remarked, his hand lingering on mine. "I agree. Danala can't be exiled… at least, not right now."

"What about sending her to one of our holds as a watch dragon?" I asked. "I know queens aren't generally put in that role, but it's the best punishment I can think of for her."

"Let's have a meeting of all the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen and see what they think," said Tiffany, who had been quiet until now. "All I know is I don't want her in any weyr if she's going to behave like that. If she does it once, she's going to do it again!"

"Agreed," G'narish replied. "We should hold a council meeting here at Igen and decide then. Personally, I'd like to send her to an isolated hold where she can't bother any other queens so she can't do this again."

"She could still go _between,_" I reminded myself as much as the others.

"True," G'narish reluctantly agreed.

"I forgot!" Tiffany exclaimed, a little disheartened. "I'm still new to this."

"So am I," I reminded her.

Two days later, the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen gathered in the senior Weyrwomen's quarters at Igen for the meeting. We were all at a loss and looking to each other for new ideas as to how to handle Danala. Lessa rather liked the idea of exile but the thought of so many dragonets going _between_ because there was nobody to Impress them also tugged at her heartstrings. Those dragonets had done nothing wrong, so they should not have to suffer for their mother's crime. Their mother really hadn't done anything wrong either, because she was under the full control of her rider and the lust of a mating flight that was also brought on by said rider. This was all Danala's fault. She needed to take the full punishment for what she and her dragon had done.

"We could post them as watch dragon and rider," Lessa suggested, "but there'd be nowhere for her eggs to hatch."

"What about keeping her here until the eggs hatch, then exiling her?" asked F'lar."

"I am not keeping her here!" G'narish cried, thumping the table in uncharacteristic rage. "Not only did she sic her queen on Nadira's, she also calmly and knowingly slit my weyrmate's throat!"

"She can hatch her eggs at Benden," Lessa said finally. "As much as I hate her for what she did, her queen had a successful mating flight afterward, and all queen flights produce new dragons. We can't have over 30 dragonets suiciding because there's no one to Impress them, and we can't just send a whole bunch of people into exile with her because whoever we would send would not have been involved in her plan, crime, or mating flight. I want her in Benden where I can keep a close eye on her. She can't be any older than 17, can she?"

"22, actually," G'narish grunted through clenched teeth. "Promise you'll let me exile her after Karenth clutches?"

The last was spoken like a child begging to be comforted after a nightmare, making you promise there are no monsters in the closet.

"Yes, G'narish. The only problem with that is that she'll have to mate again. Males can control it, but females can't."

"Well we'll just have to make sure she can't!" I argued. "Isolate her so much that she won't be around dragons and can't get back to where she's supposed to be if she goes _between_."

"She'll have visuals," F'lar mumbled. "But it's the only solution we have. Keep her at Benden until Karenth clutches and the eggs have successfully hatched. Afterwards, exile Danala but keep a watch out for her to make sure she doesn't do it again!"


	7. Chapter Six - First Mating Flight

_**Chapter 6 – First Mating Flight**_

"Queens can't chew firestone!" I exclaimed, running with my cane to G'narish's side. "I thought perhaps we could make Danala's queen chew firestone so that she can't produce any clutches, and, just to test my theory, I gave Chlorith one stone to try. She couldn't flame at all. All she did was bite her tongue and barf up this paste! That's why queens can't chew firestone, because they can't flame! It must have been in their programming. God, but Kitty Ping must've been gender discriminate, like women can't do Jack shit!"

We were still getting used to each other's language preferences. Swearing for the Pernese were words like shards and shells, while I still used the more traditional swear words.

"Now she won't clutch!" Igen's Weyrleader roared.

G'narish lost his temper for the first time since I'd known him, and that was going on three Turns now. Chlorith would be rising to mate soon.

"I bet the Ancients tried it" I said, unabashed. "Look where that got them, thousands of descendants and queen riders using flamethrowers. I bet if we looked in the oldest records it'd say something about that. I also noticed queen fire-lizards, including my own, using firestone and clutching. I don't know why Kitti Ping let the greens chew firestone but made them sterile. It just doesn't make sense."

"If we let the greens clutch, we'd be up to our ears in greens." G'narish said, still scowling by the tone of his voice, "and they don't watch over their clutches like the queens do. They let their eggs be eaten by tunnel-snakes and wherries."

"Well, now we know we can't use it on Danala," I muttered, feeling deflated.

Though we'd had no problems with her lately, I knew it would only be a matter of time.

"Elli?" G'narish's voice suddenly took on a whole new tone, one of admiration and respect, even sensuality. "I think the time to discover if Chlorith will clutch is near at hand."

That's when I suddenly became aware of loud squeals coming from the direction of the Feeding Grounds. I ran, my cane swinging erratically as I began to feel a sudden urge for raw meat. I knew that was Chlorith talking and that I had to force her to blood her kills, not gorge on meat, so that she wouldn't be too heavy for this all-important mating flight.

"Tiffany!" I screamed with my last ounce of sanity. "You've got to go! Chlorith's rising!"

"Rollith's fine," Tiffany called back. "You've got to go control your dragon!"

"But if Chlorith rises, Rollith will rise as well if you don't get her the shells out of the way!"

"But where can I go?" Tiffany cried plaintively.

"Back to Benden… or to the new computer hall your father and brother established. Go see your Oma in the south. Just go somewhere that isn't here!"

Tiffany didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her flying gear and jumped onto Rollith's back.

_I don't want to go_." I heard Tiffany's queen complain. _This is too exciting!_

I didn't hear Tiffany's reply as I was now on the Feeding Grounds trying to control mine and Chlorith's urges for raw meat.

"Suck it, Chlorith!" I almost screamed at her. "Don't eat it; suck it!"

I managed to control her after four bucks, but then she rose into the air, and suddenly, I was Chlorith. I wasn't going to let any puny bronzes catch me. I was going to defy nature and dance away from them. Puny males didn't know how to dance.

I flew normally for a time… then did a graceful pirouette in the air and flew the opposite way for a while. Then, executing a graceful backflip, I danced away from the bronze who had caught up with me. Shrieking my defiance, I rolled over on my back, then quickly righting myself, I sped up. Then I flipped upside-down and tried to flap my wings. That was my first mistake. The same bronze who had tried to catch me before touched my wingtip, and I quickly did a frontward flip out of his reach.

Why, the smarty pants was dancing with me, I suddenly realized! Well, I'd have to put a stop to that. I flipped forward again and sped up, flying normally again for a time to put the bronzes on the wrong track. Then, I turned on a wingtip and flew in the opposite direction again. Second and last mistake, as that same old bronze caught up with me again and, this time, he managed to twine his neck around mine. I was well and truly beaten, but for once, I found I didn't care. I was happy, exultant that he had caught me, as we plunged to the ground together.

"G'narish?" I whispered as Chlorith and I separated again. "Is that you?"

"Elli, oh, Elli," he softly spoke. "I never wanted to forget Nadira, but if I had to have a second weyrmate, it'd have to be you."

"You've got to be 50 Turns or more! I don't date seniors, but you don't act like you're any older than 50, and that's my age limit."

"I was 27 when I came forward," G'narish responded.

"That'd make you 50 Turns exactly," I said after doing the mental math. Then, my voice softening, I said, "I'm very concerned about Tiffany, and that she might inhibit Rollith from mating."

"Why?"

"She was almost raped by her ex-boyfriend," I explained, "and she hasn't trusted men since."

I didn't tell him that my ex had also acted as though he wanted to date her, but then chose a much younger woman over the both of us. I still talked about him nonstop because I was still not completely over my anger and bitterness over the way he had treated us. G'narish seemed to understand, because he decided to go get her himself.

"I'll be uninvolved during her mating flight so that that doesn't happen again," he said. "I will never choose another over you."

Then we made love, just as Chlorith and Guyamath were doing.

Afterwards, I sent Marie-Antoinette, one of my two queen fire-lizards to get Tiffany. She returned, suddenly taciturn, to me.

"What!" I demanded when G'narish had gone to prepare firestone sacks for the fall two days hence. "Are you afraid that G'narish is going to replace you or something? Are you afraid he's going to do the same thing Dave did?"

Tiffany burst into tears. I held out my arms to her, wrapping her up in a warm embrace.

"He'll be uninvolved when Rollith rises to mate," I said softly. "He said he doesn't want anyone to replace me like I had to replace Nadira for him to retain leadership of this Weyr."

"I don't want Rollith to mate!" Tiffany sobbed. "I don't want to be used like that again!"

"Do you have a preference?" I asked. "She'll take that into account."

"He's a brown rider," Tiffany quietly admitted.

"Why the shells can't browns fly queens?" I demanded. "By the shell, Tiff, the only reason they don't is because they're not allowed to. They're only not allowed to because they're not fast enough. I think the smaller a beast is, the faster he'll go for her! Is he of this weyr?"

"His name is V'lex, and he's from Benden," Tiffany hesitantly admitted, then broke down in fresh tears.

_**CHLORITH, TELL V'LEX AND VENTRITH TO GET THEIR BIG FAT LILY ASSES OVER TO IGEN WEYR THIS MINUTE SO THEY CAN BE AVAILABLE THE MINUTE ROLLITH RISES TO MATE!**_ I shouted telepathically so Tiffany wouldn't know what I was saying to Chlorith.

_What's a big fat lily ass?_" my lifemate wondered, forcing me to turn a laugh into a cough.

_Tell him to get here as fast as possible_, I pressed on. _I don't care if Benden has to fight Thread tomorrow. Rollith hatched at precisely the same time as you did, so it's only a matter of time before she rises_.

I held and rocked Tiffany back-and-forth while she wept, still harboring that sweet secret that she would get the wish of her life. F'nor's brown Canth had been going to try to mate with Brekke's queen, Wirenth, before Prideth had killed her. So, why couldn't Ventrith, who was almost as large as Canth, go for Rollith? I had been absolutely petrified when Lessa had told me that dragons link with their riders during mating flights, because I had vowed never to date again after what Dave had done to me, but as the Turn I spent in Igen Weyr had progressed, I had fallen in love with G'narish. I had grown to admire the way he dealt with his contemporaries down in the south. D'ram had shown more distress at what the Southerners did, but there was no denying that G'narish felt it, too. He had been born 450 Turns before, but he had spent 23 of those Turns in this time.

We didn't have long to wait. V'lex had been fighting Thread when Chlorith had summoned him, so he didn't get there until the next day. When I explained what I wanted him to do, he was frankly skeptical at first until Rollith bellowed, startling everyone.

"First of all, I had no clue she felt that way about me at all," V'lex exclaimed. "Sure, I'm straight but I distanced myself because browns can't fly queens, and she's much older than I am."

"She's only 41," I told him. "She's still young enough to bear children. And her cancer's gotten much better now that we're treating it with an agenothree compound."

"Do you love her?" asked G'narish, who I'd brought in on the plan after Tiffany had finally sobbed herself to sleep in my arms.

"I think she's the most wonderful woman in the world," V'lex admitted, blushing slightly, "but she's old enough to be my mother."

"Dragons don't discriminate about age," G'narish reminded his fellow rider. "And Rollith is even younger than Ventrith."

"I'd rather see her happy than with someone the dragon chose for her," V'lex said grudgingly.

Then, turning to me, he said, "And you better get Chlorith out of here!"

I did not need to be told twice. I rushed about getting my flying gear and jumped onto Chlorith's back. She was reluctant to go as we took wing, but I didn't need her attacking Rollith.

Sadly, and quite unexpectedly, someone beat her to it. As Tiffany's queen took flight, Karenth suddenly appeared, intercepting Rollith's path, biting down on her neck so fiercely that Rollith shrieked in protest. Changing direction at top speed, Chlorith swooped down on Karenth and lunged to bite her neck so fiercely that Karenth was forced to let go of Rollith and flew off, enticing the bronzes with her screams. Ventrith caught Rollith mid-plunge and, twining his neck with hers, assisted her to the ground. Tiffany, meanwhile, had remembered her bottle of pepper spray and had gotten the vengeful Danala in the eye with such a fierce spray that she took off, screaming, temporarily blinded.


	8. Chapter Seven - The Weyrleaders Meeting

_**Chapter 7 – The Weyrleaders Meeting**_

_ Rollith will recover_, Chlorith happily reported.

Tiffany raised her tear-stained face from my shoulder to look in Chlorith's direction.

"I thought losing a guide dog was bad," she muttered, her words garbled by her weeping. "Losing a guide dragon is 1000 times worse!"

"Chlorith says she'll recover," I reassured Tiffany. "Don't worry so much. Chlorith saved her life. She will clutch. She will be okay. Unlike the dragonets in Karenth's first clutch. Lessa says she mated too young, so most of the clutch was either damaged or deformed. That little bronze Colinath has no eyes, just skin where they should be."

"Well, he can use his rider's sight," Tiffany responded. "It's the reverse of what I did with Rollith."

_And still will when she recovers_, Chlorith reminded her. _She just needs a sevenday or so to recover her strength. Karenth was unable to bite hard enough to rupture the artery. She doesn't even need sutures_.

"Thank God for that," I fervently sighed. "And what do you mean guide dragon? What do you mean reversal of roles?"

"I use Rollith's vision all the time." Tiffany replied with a grin. "Whenever I need to give Rollith an image, I always use her vision to send it. That way I can tell her where to go by myself. You always use other dragons or riders to give Chlorith where to go. Wouldn't you like to be able to do it yourself? And don't give me that argument about never having seen before. I have prosthetics."

"All my cells have died, and my optic nerves are completely dead," I sighed, more than a little skeptical.

"Tell Chlorith to send you an image," Tiffany directed. "Tell her to show you what she's seeing."

"Okay," I relented, still skeptical. "Chlorith, what do you see right now?"

In the next heartbeat, a vivid tactile picture came into my mind of a high cliff and desert sand.

"She might do that to me when we have Threadfall," I marveled. "I feel the Thread in front of me, but it doesn't score me, and I know exactly where to aim my flamethrower."

"That's all it is," Tiffany told me in a "duh" voice.

"How would that work with images though?" I wondered. "I'd need a tactile map of where I'm going!"

"Tell her to show you places you've been."

An explosion of images flashed through my mind… of tactile maps and pictures all over the place.

"Whoa, slow down, my precious!" I cried. "How'm I supposed to get a clear picture of things if you show me all these images at once?"

Apologetically, Chlorith resent the images one at a time. I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped me. For the first time in my life, I was seeing something. It was all tactile, but I was still seeing! Ruatha, Igen Hold, Igen Weyr, Telgar, ... all the places we'd been or been drilled on were suddenly more vivid to me than if I'd ever seen them without Chlorith's help.

"What do we do for places she's never been? How do we time it?"

"I've timed it with Rollith a few times," Tiffany admitted. "She's like Ruth. She always knows when she is. I bet Chlorith does, too. Just give her a chance. Your dragon's smarter than you give her credit for."

"I know she uses words that other dragons don't use," I remarked, once again skeptical, "but queens aren't that smart."

Chlorith responded with a bugle that turned into a keen, which she always did whenever she was upset.

"Sorry, Chlorith," I said softly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"The dragon mirrors the rider," G'narish spoke as he came into the room. "You use words nobody's ever heard of before, too, and you talk too much."

"Sometimes we even fight," I admitted with a shrug. "Nothing major, but we have discussions."

"Your Chlorith is very well-versed," G'narish acknowledged. "At any rate, we've got to go. We're having our Weyrleaders counsel in two hours. We must socialize before the actual meeting begins."

"I don't want to leave Tiffany." I complained.

_I don't want to leave Rollith_, Chlorith complained at the same time.

"Rollith's too weak," we added together.

"I know," G'narish said understandably, "but this can't wait. A'mer will take care of her while we're gone."

"What was the image of Benden Weyr again?" I asked Chlorith as I reluctantly mounted. A tactile image of the Benden Mountains filled my head. "Okay, let's go."

Everyone was present at the Weyrleaders meeting. The socialization was friendly, as though all of us had been friends all our lives. Even D'ram was present, though he no longer led a weyr. Tiroth had never mated again after Fanna and Mirath's deaths. However, Guyamath had mated twice since Bailith's death. G'narish was still young enough to take a new mate, though it was hard for him to do so. He had banished Danala as soon as the link between rider and dragon severed. I was closer to his age anyway. Danala, being only 22 Turns at the time she made the horrible mistake of forcing Karenth to mate a Turn early, was much younger than G'narish's 50 Turns. It was K'van's comment about the last exiled Oldtimer's death that made everything go sour.

"Well I, for one, am glad we're rid of them!" he said. "Living with riders like G'lanar and T'ron was horrible!

"D'ram, R'mart, and G'narish had to come forward with them, and they weren't bothered by them," Mirrim said irritably. "D'ram actually wanted to help them!"

Suddenly, G'narish sprang to his feet.

"You don't think I didn't?" he demanded, his eyes blazing. "You don't think it bothered me that my contemporaries did such horrible things? You don't think it bothered me that they didn't want to change? You don't think it bothered me?"

"You certainly didn't show you had a problem with it," replied the irrepressible Mirrim.

"Well, it did!" G'narish exploded. "Just because you don't show that something bothers you doesn't mean it doesn't, Mirrim!"

With that, he turned on his heels and stormed out.

"G'narish, wait!" Lessa cried, trying to keep the peace.

"I'll go talk to him," I offered.

Picking up my cane from the floor, I followed G'narish… using Chlorith's tactile pictures… to where he stood, face buried in his dragon's neck.

"G'narish," I softly spoke, "I don't think Mirrim meant to offend you. I know those Oldtimers gave all of you a bad reputation, and I know there was still some suspicion for a while there that you'd act like them, too. But you, D'ram, and R'mart showed everybody that you were here to stay, and that you weren't going to act like them at all. You've got to remember what those poor people at the High Reaches went through because of T'kul's actions and attitude. And the people bound to Fort Weyr weren't much better off with T'ton. I was going to bring it up at this meeting that the Weyrs' autonomy should end, and that we should stick together. I think it should even go so far as to have Weyrs host gathers as well as Holds. I think Hatchings are great and all, but Gathers really let people know they're welcome, and we could create a new sport with dragons so they can play after Threadfall. Ever read the Harry Potter series off those AIVAS files?"

G'narish didn't answer.

"I think we could play Quidditch without the Bludgers or Snitch, because those balls moved by magic but the Quaffle did not."

I gently touched G'narish' shoulder. It was shaking.

"G'narish?" I was incredulous. "Are you crying?"

He turned to look at me and gently put my hand on his wet cheek.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, moving to put my arms around him.

"There were times," he muttered, shaking his head, "when I deeply regretted coming forward. I never wanted to cause anyone harm or offense. I only followed Benden's ways because I saw the benefits it brought to both dragonrider and holder. We were so stingy in the old time. When I saw the lengths T'ron and T'kul went to to keep things the way they were in the old time, my heart broke, Elli. I remember how upset I was in the old time because the commoners barely gave us the time of day even though we protected them from Threadfall. Now we have good relations between us. It bothered me that those Oldtimers were doing everything they could to ruin those relationships, but I didn't do anything about it because the Weyrs are autonomous. When my father, G'nellig, died from Threadscore, we were leaderless. My mother, Cassandria, was Senior Weyrwoman at the time, but her queen was killed when the second weyrwoman, Petra, sought to usurp her position. She didn't reckon on her queen's death. They both suicided after their dragons died. The only other Weyrwoman at the time was Nadira, and Guyamath flew Bailith, so I became Weyrleader at the tender age of 17. And what did the other Weyrs do when they learned of Petra's usurpation? They ignored it! They reacted with empty words and assurances that it would never happen again. Now it's happened twice in this time. Danala's still out there somewhere, and she might strike at another Weyr since we banished her from Igen."

"Your train of thought is going everywhere, G'narish," I said gently. "Are you still mad at the other Weyrs for what happened to Cassandria? Are you still upset that the Southern Oldtimers made such bad decisions? I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm willing to help you if I can."

That said, I started a gentle two-step with G'narish, and suddenly Chlorith was up in the air, neck intertwined with Guyamath. Rocking back-and-forth in a comforting dance, G'narish was distracted by the aerial display and raised his head to watch it through a blur of tears.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I'm just so pissed off right now. Mirrim and K'van's comments. I think what pisses me off more is that I saw where this was headed, and I did nothing to stop it. I tried to warn my parents about Petra, but they wouldn't listen to me. Now the same mistakes are being made again, and the same mistakes those Oldtimers made will also be made again."

"Not if we prevent them," I reassured him. "I'll have Chlorith watch out for Karenth. She will anyway because of Rollith. Then we can watch out for greedy hidebound riders. It'll be a two-pronged effort. Now, are you ready to go back to the meeting?"

Through Chlorith's eyes, I saw him nod. We turned, hand-in-hand, to go back to the meeting.


	9. Chapter Eight - Wonder and Pain

Chapter 8 – Wonder and Pain

Rollith did recover, and she and Chlorith both clutched queens. They clutched on the same day, causing a little squabble over who would lay their eggs where, but they finally decided to lay next to each other. They even put their queen eggs right beside each other. The candidates were Searched and either brought to Igen Weyr from other locations or found in the Lower Caverns.

G'narish had two daughters with Nadira. Seska was 4 years old when they came forward in time, and she had an irascible temper. Calentia was twenty-two and mild-tempered like her parents. Seska was certain she'd get one of the queens, but I banked on Calentia. Seska's temperament was more for a green dragon than a queen. She had stood for several Hatchings before this one, but obviously she didn't Impress.

I was also putting Raeana on the stand. She was still on the younger side, but her sense of responsibility had grown over the last three Turns. I remembered how irresponsible I'd been before Chlorith had Impressed me, and I shuddered. Raeana could also hear all dragons, so she had that going for her. This was an ability both Seska and Calentia lacked.

On the day of the Hatching, G'narish and I stood proudly to one side of the Hatching Grounds, where the Weyrleaders always stood to watch the tableau. I began to fidget after the first egg cracked. I couldn't stand for long periods of time. All mine and Tiffany's families had come to watch the Impression. Suddenly, the watch dragon roared a challenge, and even the queens turned to look. Their stentorious bugles stopped all actions in the grounds, even the thrumming of the other dragons. A single golden queen dragon came spiraling down to land.

"I'll be right back." G'narish said, and he left me and Tiffany standing there, without anyone to describe the Impression for us.

"What the actual shards was that about?" I demanded of thin air as a second egg cracked. None of the candidates except Seska and Calentia knew of our current situation, so they turned back to the eggs.

"What the fuck's going on?" I demanded. "Chlorith, if you would kindly send me some images here?"

"Young Facily impressed a green," Lessa responded, coming up to me and Tiffany and describing the tableau around us. "Another girl impressed a green. I think it's your Seska."

There was no mistaking her jubilant voice as she declared her dragon's name was Carth. Then, there was a hush, and I knew one of the queens was bursting out of its shell. I didn't know which queen it was, but she creeled with hunger and longing. I flashed back to the moment three turns ago when I had Impressed Chlorith.

_I was there; you were there; we are now together,_ Chlorith said pragmatically.

_Oh, Chlori, I'm so sorry I ever tried to reject you!_ I thought to her. _You've made my life so much better, and you saved another queen's life._

_This is my daughter,_ Chlorith said, _and she's looking for yours._

"Raeana, look!" I cried, not wanting her to miss this opportunity the way I almost missed Impressing Chlorith.

"Mom, she wants me!" Raeana cried.

"Then take her!" I yelled back.

Where the shells was G'narish? He had loved Raeana as his own child, even though he had two of his own who lived and one who had died with the cord around his neck. I knew he still grieved for his stillborn son. A parent's grief over a dead child never grows old. Hadn't Seska Impressed a green? And wasn't the other queen egg rocking? Yes, it was! The queen egg was rocking furiously. Rollith showed both me and Tiffany the egg that was rocking, and even though I couldn't see colors, the egg seemed to glow in my mind. I couldn't describe how it glowed; it just did. The second little queen burst her shell, falling onto her back, not quite ready for the egg to crack. She cried piteously, and Calentia moved to assist her.

"She says her name is Zareth!" cried Calentia, clearly ecstatic!

"Hey, that's not fair!" screamed Seska, in a sudden fit of rage. "I was supposed to get the queen! I'm the elder, and I only got a green! Greens aren't as important as queens! I came forward with Father. You were born here! I have more prestige than you. I should have gotten the queen!"

"Would you reject your dragon, Seska?" I asked her, effectively stopping her tirade.

I could sense the joy leaking out of Calentia. She would apologize if the sky were gray instead of blue like you wanted it to be. Seska turned to Carth and started scratching her eye ridges.

"Of course, I wouldn't reject an Impression," she said; "unlike you who almost sent your dragon _between_."

"She didn't know what she was doing!" Tiffany cried, standing up for me. "We came from Earth, remember?"

That shut Seska up.

"Where's Father?" asked Calentia plaintively. "I wanted him to watch us Impress."

"Yeah, where the shells is G'narish?" I asked.

"He's over there, bawling like a baby!" Seska said derisively.

"Something's wrong," Calentia concluded. "Father doesn't cry often."

"Where is he?" I asked with a growing sense of urgency.

A tactile image came into my head of G'narish holding a baby, face buried in her chest. I walked over to him, wondering where the baby had come from.

"What's the matter?" I demanded as gently as I could, my arms wrapping him up in a warm embrace.

"Would you reject your child?" Lessa was saying. "That baby did not ask to be born. It shouldn't matter whose child she is, as long as she's also yours. You know how long I ached to have another one?"

I could tell Lessa was fuming.

"I'll take care of her," I said softly. "I always wanted another one. Is this Danala's?"

"Yes," said G'narish miserably. "She doesn't want her, and she gave her to me to spite me for banishing her when she could've been senior Weyrwoman."

"But that baby did nothing to you," I said more gently I hoped than Lessa. "Babies don't ask to be partnered with parents. It just happens."

"I know," G'narish muttered, sounding miserable. "It's not that I don't love her. She looks nothing like her mother. I just hate the way she was conceived."

"Well, you can teach her what her mother did," I calmly said, gently stroking the baby's precious head, "and you can ingrain that into her so thoroughly that she'll never do it! Look at Jaxom and Fax. Jaxom had Fax's mistakes so thoroughly ingrained in him that he does everything possible to avoid them. He doesn't talk much about Fax, but I got him to talk about him enough that I came to appreciate how different they are. If Fax had the rearing of him, things would've turned out differently! The same can go for you and Cassandria. You said once that you're the spitting image of your mother, and you just said that the baby's the spitting image of you, so it goes logically that you'd want to name her for your mother rather than hers."

That got G'narish to smile. Cassandria gurgled.

"You missed your daughters Impressions," I went on. "Seska Impressed green Carth, and Calentia Impressed Queen Zareth."

"I bet that enraged Seska," G'narish chuckled. "She thinks she has more prestige than Caly because she came from the old time and she's older."

"That's exactly the tirade she threw at her." I smiled. "I was afraid Carth was going to go _between_ the way Seska was raging about how unimportant greens are."

"They are the smallest." G'narish said; "and they can't clutch if they've chewed firestone. But they are also our most nimble fighters."

"Well, as long as she doesn't mate with C'leb, I'll be happy," said Tina, who had come up to see what all the commotion was about.

"You can't take care of a baby," Tina told me. "You couldn't even take care of Raeana."

"I've changed since I've impressed Chlorith," I replied in my 'duh' voice. "And, anyway, parenting is not the sole responsibility of one or two people on Pern. The entire Hold or Weyr takes care of the children. You just wait till Quath mates. Green mating flights are even wilder than queen mating flights."

"I don't need a mating flight to get down and dirty," said Tina, surprising me. "Besides, Quath already mated. I tried to invite you to the mating flight, but you were busy with other Weyr business. I don't know why you went to Igen Weyr, but you're doing really well here. I'm really proud of you."

I glowed inside.


	10. Chapter Nine - Power Grab

_**Chapter 9 – Power Grab**_

Ramoth sucked the blood of a big stupid buck, feeling mutinous. She wanted raw meat, to feel the juices in her mouth as she chewed the bones and muscles as she always did any other time, but Lessa won again. Ramoth blooded four kills, unaware that another queen, Danala's Karenth, was doing the same thing almost right next to her. The watch dragon had not even roared a challenge, so stealthily had Danala's queen snuck into the Feeding Grounds.

The minute Ramoth took off, she felt a set of teeth clamp down on her jugular vein and start sucking. Ramoth shrieked her pain and defiance, trying to rake Karenth with her claws, but she was losing so much blood. Suddenly, another golden queen appeared from _between,_ sinking her teeth into Karenth's neck, effectively breaking Karenth's hold on Ramoth's neck. Karenth split the air with a hideous shriek before vanishing _between_. Mnementh caught up with the queens and wrapped his neck tightly around Ramoth's bleeding one.

Lessa's link with her dragon broke the moment she felt the knife blade pressed to her throat. She opened her eyes to find Danala, a perfectly deranged look on her face, standing over her. Instinctively, Lessa whipped out her own belt knife with her right hand, seizing Danala's right wrist with her left. Danala struggled, but she had enflamed Lessa's wrath in a way no one else ever had before. Benden's Weyrwoman was angrier now than the day Fax had massacred her whole family. She was angrier than she had been at the Oldtimers when they had stolen Ramoth's egg.

"How dare you use your dragon to try and seize power?" Lessa screamed. "How dare you use your queen to attack mine?"

"You're so stupid!" Danala screamed back, matching Lessa's intensity. "You could've done what I'm doing now! You could've usurped every other senior Weyrwoman on Pern! You could've ruled the world! But, no. You decided to take the coward's way out! You are a weakling, just like Nadira and every other senior Weyrwoman on this planet!"

Lessa fought to keep the knife arm down as she raised her belt knife up to Danala's throat.

"I ... am ... not ... weak!" Lessa grunted, straining to keep Danala at bay. "You ... are ... evil!"

Danala's expression became even more deranged, but the two struggling women were interrupted by the sounds of dragons keening!

"Ramoth defeated Karenth!" Lessa hissed, fury sparking like fire in her eyes. "You have no power anymore!"

Danala stayed stock still for a few seconds as she absorbed the information. Lessa was quite right. Karenth was no more, gone _between_, gone forever. But it wasn't Ramoth who had killed her. A hiss rose from Danala's throat, quickly becoming a growl, before turning into an ear-splitting shriek of fury when she realized it had been that wretched dancing queen, Chlorith!

Danala turned to run, to find the lifemate of the dragon who had killed her precious Karenth, but Lessa seized her by the arm, arresting her escape. With a yank, Lessa spun Danala around. Then, with one final roar of defiance, the Benden Weyrwoman speared her knife directly into Danala's throat, thrusting with so much force that the tip of the blade protruded out the back of the woman's neck.

Whether by accident or intent, Lessa's aim had been flawless, neatly severing her attacker's spine, bringing instant oblivion; Danala's body thudding to the stone floor with a mundane finality. Only then did the sound of running feet finally reach the Weyrwoman's ears.

"Lessa!" F'lar cried, rushing to his Weyrmate, throwing his arms around her.

_Karenth dies in shame_, Ramoth said weakly. _I will live for you_.

"She's dead, F'lar," Lessa quietly spoke, trembling despite her calm demeanor. "I had no choice. She was using her dragon to gain power she didn't deserve. She killed Nadira, and she almost got me."

"Ramoth's going to need stitches," Tiffany reported as she came into the room. "Should I get Oldive?"

"Yes, and time-it if you can!" Lessa's voice was louder than she meant it to be, but she was desperate not to lose her dragon.

"Who keeps keening like that?" the Benden Weyrwoman wondered, glancing about. "You'd think we'd lost fifty queens!"

"That's Chlorith," Tiffany replied, tears forming in her eyes. "She's the one who rescued Ramoth. She thinks she killed Karenth, but Rollith says she suicided in shame."

"Can't Elli shut her up? She's making me want to weep."

"She's trying," Tiffany explained, wiping back some of her tears. "She's really trying, and that woman has a knack for comforting people that I just don't have."

_I will never dance again!_ Chlorith's wailed, her voice giving the impression of tears as she spoke, though I knew dragons could not weep.

"Yes, you will," I assured her, slapping her back affectionately. "You won't even remember this come tomorrow."

_I killed another dragon! I do not deserve to dance!_

"Ramoth says she died in shame; you did not kill her," I said gently. "She suicided because she didn't want to kill another queen, but her rider was making her do it with the force of her willpower."

I honestly didn't know if Chlorith understood what I was telling her, but I hoped to God she did.

_I wish you would hold me right now. I am very upset. Just let me keen awhile. She was a good queen. She was my friend._

"Every dragon is your friend, Chlori," I said, but I couldn't laugh at her.

She needed some TLC, and I was going to give it to her. The only times I'd ever heard of dragons killing other dragons, they had not survived to tell the tale, as the queens had killed each other during mating battles.

I took Chlorith's head in my arms and rocked it gently back-and-forth until the keening finally subsided, and she was asleep. I scratched an eye ridge, stroked her muzzle, then went to see how Ramoth was doing. She also slept peacefully, her neck freshly sutured and bandaged to stop the bleeding. She would make a full recovery, but it might take a while. That sorted, I sought out the Benden's leaders.

"Sorry, Lessa," I apologized, catching up with F'lar and Lessa in their weyr, "but it looks like I might have to spend the night. Chlorith's sacked out after all that crying."

I turned to Tiffany, who was also in the room. "Go back home and tell G'narish I'll be sleeping here tonight. I don't think Chlorith's going to wake up anytime soon. Shards, but she's upset! I've never seen a dragon so upset before."

"Can we share a weyr and talk like old times?" she pleaded.

It was usually my turn to plead for time with her, but it had also been like that on Earth, as well.

"How can I turn down my twinny?" I replied, hugging her. "We'll have a good old-fashioned cuddle and get caught up on our sex lives."


	11. Chapter Ten - Heartbreak and Hope

_**Chapter 10 – Heartbreak and Hope**_

"I don't feel very well," Tiffany remarked as we lay in bed together.

"Well, you have just been laughing up a storm," I responded, grinning broadly. "Of course, your stomach's going to hurt."

"I've been feeling this way for a while now. I feel nauseous."

"Take an anti-nausea pill," I responded.

"I've been getting a lot of migraines as well, and I've been very emotional lately."

"Come to think of it," I commented, "I've been a bit under the weather, too. I haven't had any appetite and I spewed lung butter all over poor G'narish yesterday. He was righteously pissed; I can tell you! I felt so embarrassed for puking all over a Weyrleader. At least it was G'narish and not F'lar."

"That's exactly what I was going to say," Tiffany chuckled.

I laughed.

"We could have the flu or something," I speculated.

"I've been feeling this way for over two months," Tiffany argued. "It's not the flu."

"Your cancer isn't coming back, is it?"

"No, it's not the cancer," she replied, a little perturbed. "Why do you always have to assume that my cancer's coming back?"

"Because it always did back home," I told her. "These agenothree treatments were an experiment. They work with you, but for how long?"

"I think we both need a healer," my twinny concluded. "We are sexually active, you know."

"We're too old to have kids," I disagreed. "You can't have children anyway because of your agenothree treatments, and you had so much chemo on Earth that it probably destroyed all your eggs."

"I've been missing my period these past two months," Tiffany explained, her brows furrowed. "Is it true the dolphins can diagnose medical problems?"

"That's what they say," I replied, "and I've been missing my period, too, but I thought I was just irregular again."

"Can we go now?" she asked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "At least, not without V'lex & G'narish present when the dolphins deliver their verdict."

"Agreed, twin," Tiffany sighed reluctantly.

The next morning, we woke to renewed keening from Chlorith. I sighed.

"I guess our visit to the dolphins will have to wait," I muttered to Tiffany as I rose from bed.

_When will I forget what I have done?_ Chlorith moaned mentally; keening all the while.

"Very soon, my precious love," I assured her. "In the meantime, we better go pick up V'lex & G'narish. We have to go see the dolphins."

It was my first time ever talking to a dolphin. I had come from a time when mentasynth had not yet been invented. Back then and back there, dolphins couldn't talk. And the closest I ever got to a dolphin was from a boat in Texas when it jumped out of the water ten feet or so away. I had never so much as felt a dorsal fin before.

"Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, mans come again!"

The dolphins jumped so high out of the water that they splashed us.

"Um, hi," I said nervously. "I'm Elli, and this is Tiffany, and that's G'narish & V'lex. We're weyrmates and we have a question for you."

How much did the dolphins understand? The humans had lost contact with the dolphins for 2000 years. Could they have lost their smarts?

"We answer ques-chon," said the one closest to me.

"Tiffany and I have not been feeling well lately," I did my best to explain, "and we'd like you to see what's wrong with us."

"Elli has tuins inside," the dolphin replied, seeming to grin at us. "Tuins the same."

"Wait, what?!" I spluttered, totally incredulous. "Twins? Like babies? Identical twin babies?! I… I… I'm pregnant?!"

"ee-yes!" the dolphin cried. "Iden-tical tuins!"

"Do you know what gender they are?" I asked, still in a state of disbelief. "Are they male or female?"

"Elli's tuins female," the dolphin replied. "Tiffy's tuins male!"

"Wait! No way!" Tiffany exclaimed, even more incredulous than I was. "I'm having twins, too?!"

"Hey, if our twins grow up and Impress dragons, they could be weyrmates! If they get fostered out in a Hold somewhere, they could marry each other. Then we'd really be related."

V'lex grabbed Tiffany and pulled her away from me, while G'narish swam out to meet me. This time, G'narish sobbed openly, his face wreathed in smiles, his arms engulfing me in a tight embrace.

"What's wrong, Narish?" I cried, my joy leaking out of me faster than egg whites out of the shell.

"I'm happy!" G'narish sobbed, gasping and heaving, barely able to stay on his feet.

"Um, did you act like this when you found out Nadira was pregnant?" I asked, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

"Yes, I did," he replied, managing a laugh through his tears. "She hated it. She thought I should be strong so that she could be the softy. But sometimes to be strong is to shed tears."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, G," I said. "Let's go collect Tiffany and get back to Igen. And let's fly straight, okay?"

"Uh-oh," said G'narish, struggling to regain control over his emotions as he looked in Tiffany's direction.

"What?" I asked, too eager to share my joy with my pseudo twin sister.

"He left her," G'narish mumbled, not looking at me. "And she's crying."

I listened closely, and, indeed, Tiffany was weeping. She was trying to keep it quiet, but she wasn't succeeding very well. At first, I assumed they were happy tears, but why would you want to be alone when shedding happy tears?

"Twin, what happened?" I wondered as we waded up to her. "Where's your weyrmate?"

"He left, twin," Tiffany wept, brushing back some of her tears. "He didn't want to take care of one baby, let alone two. He wanted me to either foster or abort, but I can't do that. This might be the only chance I get to have children, and now I have to be a single mother!"

She began to sob aloud, and I threw my arms around her, my own joy completely forgotten as I comforted her.

"Sweetie, he's not worth your tears if he's going to do something like that!" I told her. "There'll be other weyrmates. What about that guy who Impressed Colinath? You'd make a perfect team, a blind rider with a sighted dragon and a sighted rider with a blind dragon. He'd probably jump at the chance to mate with a queen."

"But I don't want to mate with anyone else!" Tiffany wept. "I can't trust men!"

"Your dragon will decide your weyrmate, and I guarantee he won't do what Andy did to you. You'll be linked with Rollith, so you'll enjoy it, too. Now, let's get back home. Did V'lex return to Benden?"

Her head nodded against my shoulder.

"What a scuzzz!" I cried, feeling my friend's pain. "Just as bad as Dave back on Earth."

Hugging my BFF, I quietly told her, "I'm here for you, twin. I love you. I'll be with you again tonight, so you won't be alone. All the weyrfolk will love our children, and they'll help us raise them. I guess Cassandria will have a new milk mother once my milk comes in."

There had been pain in both our pasts. Now, we each had a chance to hope for the future. Whatever Fate had in store for us on this far-flung world, I was certain life in the coming Turns for our twins would be interesting… and for us, too! _C'est la bonne vie_!

\- The End -


End file.
